Guided tours

As part of the Fondazione Giorgio Cini project to integrate visitor services on the Island of San Giorgio Maggiore, from Tuesday 16 April it will be possible to visit not only the monumental complex but also the Foundation’s “Wood” and the Vatican Chapels, presented to the public last year during the 16th International Architecture Exhibition of the Venice Biennale.
The overall installation, in fact, was created for the first ever Holy See Pavilion at the Architecture Biennale. Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi invited ten architects (from Italy, Spain, Portugal, Great Britain, the USA, Australia, Brazil, Japan, Chile, Serbia and Paraguay) to build a chapel each, starting from the model of Gunnar Asplund’s “Woodland Chapel”, constructed in a Stockholm cemetery in 1920. The result was the Vatican Chapels, and these highly unusual, new buildings are now on permanent display in a setting, both natural and abstract, in the “Wood” of the Fondazione Giorgio Cini.

Thanks to collaboration with Benedicti Claustra, a non-profit branch of the Benedictine community of San Giorgio Maggiore, a visit to the Bell Tower of the Basilica of San Giorgio Maggiore has been included in tickets to the Foundation buildings and the Chapels.

There are now guided tours of the monumental complex of the Fondazione Giorgio Cini every day of the week, thanks to a new pilot project in collaboration with D’Uva of Florence, which has created a special video-guided itinerary.

Visitors can choose from four different itineraries.

The first itinerary takes you on a tour of the monumental buildings of the Fondazione Giorgio Cini (including the two cloisters, the Palladian Refectory with the Wedding of Cana, the Photography Room, Longhena’s Grand Staircase and Library, the Nuova Manica Lunga Library and the Borges Labyrinth) and the “Wood” with the ten Vatican Chapels, designed by internationally renowned architects.

The second itinerary combines the tour of the Fondazione Cini with a visit to the Bell Tower of San Giorgio. Over 75 metres high, the Bell Tower is among the highest viewpoints in the city and can be easily visited thanks to a lift up to the belfry at the top.

The third itinerary explores the “Wood” with the Vatican Chapels before going on to the Bell Tower of San Giorgio, with its unique view of the city over the Bacino di San Marco and out to the surrounding lagoon.

The fourth and last itinerary comprises a combined tour of the Fondazione Cini buildings, the “Wood” with the Vatican Chapels and the Bell Tower of the Basilica of San Giorgio Maggiore.

Itineraries 1-2-3tour of the Foundation + “Wood” with Vatican Chapels + Expanded
or
tour of the Foundation + the Bell Tower
or
tour of the “Wood” with Vatican Chapels + Expanded + the Bell Tower

€16 – standard ticket
€14 – concessions: over 65 / under 26 / Venetian residents / students / civic service volunteers / other partnerships
€10 – student groups (minimum of 10), for secondary school and university students
€32 – families of one or two adults and at least one child under 18 (valid for a maximum of 5, then €7 for each extra person)
€120 – groups of up to 10 people with audio guide service; extra people – €8 per person
€180 – groups up to 10 people with a traditional guide service; extra people – €8 per person
€100 – groups of primary and middle-school students, booked tours on Monday mornings

FREE ADMISSION – children under 12 accompanied by parents / Venetian residents on the first Tuesday of the month.

€20 – standard ticket
€16 – concessions: over 65 / under 26 / Venetian residents / students / civic service volunteers / other partnerships
€13 – student groups (minimum of 10), for secondary school and university students
€40 – families of one or two adults and at least one child under 18 (valid for a maximum of 5, then €7 for each extra person)
€150 – groups of up to 10 people with audio guide service; extra people – €8 per person
€220 – groups up to 10 people with a traditional guide service; extra people – €8 per person
€120 – groups of primary and middle-school students, booked tours on Monday mornings

FREE ADMISSION – children under 12 accompanied by parents / Venetian residents on the first Tuesday of the month.